Are you still using a credit card? The latest "Overall Operation of the Payment System in the Second Quarter of 2026" released by the People's Bank of China shows that as of the end of the second quarter, there were 677 million credit and debit cards nationwide, a decrease of about 10 million from 687 million at the end of the first quarter. This figure was 807 million at the end of the third quarter of 2022.
In recent years, with the widespread popularity of mobile payments and Internet credit, traditional bank cards have gradually lost their scenario advantages. In the past, most financial needs such as small turnover and convenient payments could only be met by credit cards. Now, scan-code payments such as WeChat and Alipay cover the streets, and lightweight credit tools such as Huabei, Baitiao, and monthly payments are seamlessly integrated into daily life such as online shopping, takeout, and travel. There is no need to apply for a card offline and wait for review. It can be activated with one click. The minimalist operating experience can be said to be a victory over physical credit cards with cumbersome procedures and inconvenience to carry. The basic usage scenarios of credit cards have been greatly diverted.
The change in consumption concepts is another driving force for credit cards to fade out of public life. In the past, excessive consumption and overdraft consumption were once popular, and credit cards were regarded as tools to improve the quality of life. Some people even opened multiple cards and used their cards to support them and fell into a cycle of debt. Nowadays, "rational consumption, refusal to overdraft, and debt-free life" has become a new life creed. Many young people are no longer superstitious about "enjoyment in advance". Instead, they remain highly vigilant about unknown liabilities and actively abandon the excessive overdraft consumption pattern. People no longer blindly apply for cards for the sake of points and benefits, but only keep the cards they need and cancel idle credit cards in batches. Behind this trade-off is also an awakening of the national financial awareness.
In addition, regulatory standards and industry upgrades have accelerated the "de-bubble" of the credit card market. In the past few years, some banks have issued cards extensively in order to seize the market, resulting in a large number of dormant cards and invalid cards, as well as excessive debt, overdue credit cards and other chaos. Since the regulatory authorities issued regulations in 2022, the banking industry has comprehensively cleaned up long-term idle sleep cards, strictly controlled long credit extensions, eliminated induced overdrafts, and curbed blind card issuance from the source. This may seem like a significant reduction in the number of credit cards, but in fact it is an inevitable process for the industry to bid farewell to barbaric growth, abandon extensive expansion, and move toward standardized, healthy, and high-quality development.
What needs to be clarified is that the decline in credit card usage is by no means a downgrade in consumption, but a reflection of more self-disciplined and mature consumption. It’s not that the public no longer needs financial credit services, but they say goodbye to blind and rampant credit overdrafts and learn to use financial tools rationally and on demand. Daily small-amount consumption relies on lightweight payment tools, and large-amount rigid consumption requires reasonable use of credit card rights, with appropriate choices and relaxation. This change allows financial instruments to return to their essence of "serving life" and get rid of the misunderstandings of "overdraft consumption and blind comparison".
Credit cards, which have lost their traffic halo, have not completely exited the market. Today's banking industry has embarked on a refined transformation, continuing to focus on high-quality customer groups, deeply exploring unique rights and interests such as travel, cultural tourism, and high-end consumption, while eliminating homogeneous and low-value co-branded card products. It can be said that credit cards have transformed from a traffic tool that everyone must have to a quality tool for precise services, accelerating the transformation from quantity expansion to quality improvement.
The hot and cold changes of credit cards are also a microscopic mirror of the development of the times. The iteration of payment methods has made life more convenient, the rationality of consumption concepts has cured impetuosity, and the upgrade of industry standards has purified the market. Credit cards are gradually falling out of favor, taking away the bad consumption habit of excessive overdrafts and leaving behind a more stable and pragmatic consumption mentality. In the future, financial tools will become more humane and refined, and a rational consumption and a life attitude of doing according to one's ability will be the eternal confidence in life.
(Yao Jin Economic Daily)
